How the stokvel calculator works
Last updated 10 November 2026
Stokvels are a long-standing way to save and borrow together. The arithmetic is simple, but it hides one thing: members paid early gain, and members paid late lose a little, when money would otherwise earn interest.
How it works
- Rotating: pot = members times each payment. Everyone pays in every period and each takes the pot once.
- The net figure is the future value of the pot you receive minus the future value of what you pay, at the return you enter.
- Savings pool: everyone pays each month, interest is added monthly, and the total is shared equally.
Worked example
With the starting figures:
- Each period the pot is R 6 000.
- At the return entered, the first to be paid is R 171 ahead and the last is −R 168 behind, compared with saving alone.
How to read your result
For a rotating stokvel, the headline is the pot paid out each period. The table lists every position in the cycle: when each member is paid, what they receive, what they pay in altogether and the net figure compared with saving the same money alone. For a savings pool, the headline is what each member receives when the pool is shared out, split into what they paid in and the interest on top.
If the return is zero, every member ends level, because everyone pays in the same total and receives the same pot. A positive return makes an early payout worth more and a late payout worth less. The net column puts a rand figure on that gap between the first and last position.
A closer look at the return and the fines
- Return each period: this is the rate you could earn by saving alone, for the same length of time as one stokvel period. If your group pays monthly, enter a monthly rate. Enter 0 to ignore it.
- Fines: the fine and the number of late payments are used to show the total fines collected, which are extra money for the group. Whether the fines are shared, kept in a pot or paid out is for your group to decide.
- Pool interest: for a savings pool, the interest rate is a yearly rate, and it is added each month. The result depends on what the account actually pays.
Questions to settle as a group
The calculator does the arithmetic, but the rules are yours. Groups usually write down the following so there is no argument later:
- How the order of payouts is decided, and whether members can swap places
- What happens if a member stops paying before their turn, or after they have been paid
- Who holds the money, and whether it sits in a bank account in the group’s name
- How and when the books are checked, and who is allowed to see them
What this does not cover
The tool does not know your group’s constitution, and it does not check whether the stokvel is registered or run properly. It does not include bank fees, and it assumes every member pays the same amount on time, apart from the late payments you enter. Nothing you type is saved or sent anywhere.
Things to watch
- Agree what happens if a member leaves or stops paying.
- Keep a written record of contributions and payouts.
- Interest earned by a pool may be taxable above the exemption. See the interest exemption on the take-home pay and TFSA pages.
The tool does arithmetic for your group’s own rules. Read the full disclaimer.
Like every tool on MoneyMzansi, this one runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent or stored, so download your data if you want to keep it.